Mobile computing devices can allow users to conduct online transactions (e.g., purchases of goods or services via a website). However, electronic commerce via mobile devices can involve an increased risk of abandoned transactions as compared to in-person shopping. For example, users shopping on mobile devices may be more susceptible to distraction or context switching (e.g., switching from a web browser application to a text messaging application in response to receiving a text message). Thus, a user may initiate an online purchase with an electronic shopping cart, but may become distracted and fail to complete the purchase. Cart abandonment can negatively impact profits for many online retailers.
Current solutions for reducing abandonment of online transactions involve sending notifications to users. For example, an online merchant may send an e-mail to a user's e-mail address indicating that products are available in an online shopping cart. The user can access a link to the online merchant via the e-mail.
These solutions may be insufficient for facilitating the completion of online transactions. For example, simple push notifications and emails require the performance of multiple steps for the user to return to the online transaction and complete it (e.g., navigating from the notification to an e-mail program, opening a message in the e-mail program, clicking a link in the message to the purchaser's website). A distracted user of a mobile device may be less likely to perform such a multi-step process to complete a transaction.
It is desirable to provide improved solutions for facilitating the completion of online transactions using mobile devices.